This year’s presidential race may be wildly different from past races, but one of the verities of our era still holds: Republicans want to cut taxes and Democrats to raise them. On this issue, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are running as mainstream representatives of their parties. The public should hope that Congress exercises a restraining influence on either one of them.
Clinton would raise taxes on high earners in a variety of ways. People who make more than $5 million would pay a new 4 percent “surcharge.” The value of several tax deductions, such as the one for mortgage interest, would be limited for people in the top three tax brackets (including married couples making more than $230,000 a year). Capital-gains taxes would rise for investments held between two and five years, with higher rates on the shorter-term ones. Clinton would introduce a new set of tax rates on large estates that would reach 65 percent at the top, compared with the current 40.
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